For The Few
Runners to visit museum on 80-mile route in tribute to Battle of Britain pilots
A team of runners will make their way from Westhampnett to Tangmere next Thursday as part of a Battle of Britain memorial run.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the Second World War battle, author and photographer Jonny Cracknell is leading a small team on a five-day, 80-mile run between significant fighter stations and locations.
The Running For The Few team was hoping to raise at least £3,000 in tribute to the nearly 3,000 RAF aircrew who served during the Battle of Britain, between July 10 and October 31, 1940, but has already raised £4,500.
Jonny said: “Our objective is to raise as much awareness as possible, in this poignant anniversary year, for the courageous Few — the young men who defended Britain’s skies during 1940 from the relentless German Luftwaffe and an inevitable invasion.”
Tangmere’s Military Aviation Museum will be the finishing point for the penultimate day of the fundraiser next Thursday, October 8, when Jonny and his team will run from Westhampnett to the museum, via St Andrew’s Church in the Tangmere.
The run, which begins on Monday at the headquarters of the Aircraft Restoration Company in Duxford, will take in 15 sites that have a special significance to the Battle of Britain, many of them airfields from which The Few flew against the Luftwaffe.
After leaving Duxford the five-day run will also take in Fowlmere, Debden, North Weald, Hornchurch, Biggin Hill, Kenley, Croydon, Uxbridge, the Polish Air Force Memorial at Northolt, Bentley Priory and Manston before reaching Hawkinge and then the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-ferne next Friday.
Supporters can sponsor the team by visiting Jonny’s Justgiving page at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/battleofbritain80